Thanks 4 all the input! Keep it comin!

Thanks for all the input people :) All suggestions will be considered.

So far it seems people favor choices, no surprise there, but not too many. (4-6 chars is winning so far)
There was a strong preference for a-typical fantasy so we can aim for that and 5 simple skills seemed to be a popular option.

I was thinking of putting in some move timing button pushing to enhance abilities alla super mario RPG/Paper Mario but time will tell what crazy combo move scheme I cook up. Anyways I made the terrain look nicer so I'll plop a pic of it here but still need to do lots of work (Obviously) Anton needs to get me a underwater side texture and another one and I like to guilt him into doing things so heres the pic. :) (jk Anton plz don't kill me)

I particularly liked the gameplay suggestions. We may put in soem steampunk elements and stuff, also the "agro" idea is facinating as I have never seen a non-mmo do this well. hmm.

Btw click on the picture to see it bigger.

Nnoooooooo!

http://www.nintendic.com/news/2822

I can enters Strong Badia yet plz? Wut u means no?

Info Byte: Book 14 live tomorrow

Book 14 goes live tomorrow. I'm gonna have to rerun all the dungeons just to see whats changed. Since I'm adventuring with Anton and some other friends I was gonna do that anyways so I'm just more excited to do it. Also the live event system goes live. Btw please keep giving ideas on the post below :) I am loving all the input and we will definitely use some of it, I can already say that.

p.s. I tried out dr.mario online and its.. well.. d.r. mario 4 player. That's about it. If that's worth ten bucks to you then so be it. Toki Tori is antoher game I tried and its very interesting if you like puzzles and are patient. I'd say it was mroe fresh and new than dr. mario for me at least.

Getting things started...

If you've been following our rambles, Thallian and I are in early (not all that consistent yet) stages of creating a simple fantasy-based tactical rpg. We have some ideas for gameplay and story, but would like to hear some of our friends' or visitors to this sites' opinions/suggestions for the game. We will consider all input at our discretion and as it fits into what is already established for the game. Note the few pieces of rough concept art along the top banner of our site.

So please leave some comments about what you'd like to see in our storyline, characters, or gameplay for our tactical rpg. -Anton

:D This is kind of like Tobold's Shandalar project only we're actually making it. We were wondering if you'd prefer to play a game with lots of swords and sorcery or maybe more steampunk, or intergallactic or whatnot. We are open to all ideas! Not only the setting but if you have any crazy storyline ideas we may like to use please share! I am a big fan of branching story lines that you can choose from, thus making your character a bit more interesting if not unique :) Little plot sequences that you encounter like in Baldur's gate 2.

An example being like where you have to find an actor and hes been captured by a wizard. When you find the key after traveling through the sewer to sneak into his house, the wizard shows up and you have to talk him out of killing you and into being willing to negotiate. Then later you find out the reason the actor was captured was he was trying to steal a portal gem and you use it to warp into an inter dimensional prison for highly dangerous felons and even more dangerous guards. You can get out a number of ways: force of arms, or create a distraction by freeing the slaves who hate the warden, or just stealth. Saving slaves' lives gives bonus rewards.

Anyways I can't wait to hear your ideas and try them :) -Thallian

Freedom Ain't Free Folks

Kind of in commemoration of the Fourth of July and the price our fore fathers and my grandfather paid (landed on D-day and marched all over France) in the many wars to keep this nation free, I'd like to post a reminder to all y'all to say thank you to God or just plain be grateful if your confused on that subject for all the many freedoms we now enjoy. Please realize that nothing is really free and its important to remember the price paid for things in order to really appreciate them.
Some things are worth dying for.. video games not being one of them, and free speech is one of those things because if you lose free speech you lose freedom to check and balance "the Man" and shortly thereafter you end up living in China. Or rather your own version of it.

Here is an article about the perils the freedom of blogging is facing and what it might mean to us: http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/15/technology/blog.php

Also here is a good blog about virtual laws being implemented and their repercussions by a very savvy lawyer: Virtually Blind | Virtual Law | Legal Issues in Virtual Worlds and Multiuser Online Games

Demos.. good or bad?

Do you guys think demos are good or a bad thing? Every gamer worth his sauce will usually just spit out (without thinking) that they are good. For him/her. But think about the question as a general one for the industry as well as the consumer and read this intriguing interview with the creators of Pop on WiiWare for some insights into how Nintendo and Microsoft interact with their potential content producers.

Personally I want to give my opinionated ten cents worth on this so here it is: Demos are good for saving money as a consumer and bad for development, innovation, and making a sale. What would work better is trailers and detailed descriptions of what I can find in a game, plus positive word of mouth from friends who own it. And I definitely agree that none of the big three has a good system to help you wade through the crapware and find the good cookieware. Speaking of cookies.. I have places to be...

Just Keeping you guys (and gals) up to speed

Steefel finally told what the two new classes do in the Lotro expansion. Here's the news on that.

And they also told a ton of stuff about what the book releasing soon is like and Moria as it stands under development here. Enjoy :)

..p.s. Here's one on book 14 http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=174167

p.p.s. Here's why I'm so freaking excited for it: http://www.lotro.com/article/562
if you read any of these read this last one though they are all good.

News Flash

Crystal Chronicles has added some new down loadable content, for those of you addicted to it like my family.

http://purenintendo.com/2008/07/04/final-fantasy-crystal-chronicles-my-life-as-a-king-new-content-now-available-for-download/

Second, Spogs racing has launched on wii ware and I was considering buying it. It involves crashing your car into other ones and stealing their spare parts to upgrade, kinda reminds me of blast works. Anyways Its a racing game and I thought it might be good but the 1.9/10 review from ign and other sources kinda leads me to believe I shouldn't waste my money.... It must fart in your face or something to earn a 1.9. wow.

Where we're at

Just a quick couple of totally unimpressive pics to show how I'm reading in blocks from a file that looks like this: GGWSSG...blah blah blah 2 3 4 2 1
It reads in which terrain type to use and then what height to make it. I am going to reduce the blocks to half size so we can make more believable gradients and also make water tiles not have dirt on the sides. Last I'm gonna add some more tile types like rounded and different texture types like floor tile and stone and lava and carpet and stuff. Oh and I need to get rid of the borders maybe in the underground ones though I kinda like the borders cuz they show you tactically where everything is. Maybe as a polishing feature I'll make them toggleable.

Book 14 live on Roheryn!

http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?t=146974

Click there to read the full info. Book 14 is now live on Roheryn. What does that mean? Its in beta testing so it will be live in a couple weeks on all servers. Probably. And we can all run down the the Hollin gate and bang on the front door of Moria until our ponies get pulled into the water by a tentacled beast and devoured, just like poor old Bill.

I personally cant wait to see the ring-forge. And a new area that isn't covered in snow.... (have I mentioned that I hate snow in rl?)

another list is here: http://www.lotro-europe.com/newspage.php?search=yes&keyword=&id=1927

Wii Fit article

A "Fiona King"(.. is that your real name..?) has contacted me with an article she posted. I once had a number of anonymous callers, prolly tax collectors or the FBI call my apartment constantly for a Phoenix Goldenfire.. turns out it was HER real name! I still wonder what they were after her for, they didn't seem to believe she wasn't living in an all boys apartment. Can you believe it? Anyways life's full of surprises.
And anyways here's one from Fiona's nurses:

Hi Thallian,

We just posted an article, "Using Wii Fit in Your Longterm Fitness Plan: 40+ Tips, Tutorials and Success Stories" (Article link removed at owners request) I thought I'd bring it to your attention in case you think your readers would find it interesting.

Either way, thanks for your time!

Fiona King

I didn't see anything terribly objectionable so if your interested in Wii fit go ahead and read :) -Thall